Babysitting
by Kedifos
Summary: Freed ends up with one of the responsibilities of Laxus Dreyar. It doesn't really go well. Complete idiocy, beware! OOoooOo!


**Babysitting**

**Summary: Freed ends up with one of the responsibilities of Laxus Dreyar. It doesn't really go well.**

**Rated T.**

**Just a little something that came out of my head one day. Its probably highly unlikely, but I've always seen Laxus as this kind of person. (Well, in private anyway)**

**And Freed is pretty damn cool. Lets not forget that.**

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><p>Freed Justine was a quiet man. Everyone knew that. If given the choice, he would gladly indulge himself in the luxuries of literature - in his home or no - and sit reading for hours and hours.<p>

Well, unfortunately he wasn't blessed with choice this time. He sat at a round table in the Fairy Tail building, accompanied by both Evergreen and Bixlow. As much as he did enjoy their company, they were often overwhelming. Ever was hardly ever a nuisance (unless subjected to dirt, but lets not get started on that) and actually shared some of the same interests as him. She wasn't much of a book person though, and the Fairy did enjoy teasing him about his personal life.

And Bixlow? Eugh. How was he not a nuisance?

He toyed with Freed constantly. Freed was the chosen target for his entertainment. Whether it be about his love life, personal life, interests, hobbies or anything else for that matter, Bixlow would nitpick and badger about one thing or the other. Not only that, but the seith mage was very active. And loud. Sometimes Freed wished for Bixlow to just leave - forever.

But here he was, forgiving his friend for the umpteenth time. He brushed a few strands of hair from his face and puffed. The rune mage shook his fingers to distract himself from the pain. He zoned out as Bixlow spluttered a string of apologies; Freed didn't care, anyway - he usually forgot about it the next day. He pulled out a small, dog-eared book from the inner pocket of his jacket and flipped out a sleek pen from an outer one. He flicked through the yellowed pages and stopped at a passage littered with odd bits and ends. Ever watched curiously as he wrote out something in a small chart. It was illegible to her, but she inquired about it anyway.

"Whats that?"

Freed stared up at her. Bixlow leaned over to get a quick glance.

He flicked to another page and skimmed through the contents, running his thumb over a date before snapping the book shut. It was gone in a flash, safely stored back into his pocket. The mage cleared his throat before speaking, "It's just something I keep with me."

Bixlow's tongue peeked out from his mouth. He cocked a brow. "Something, eh? What were you looking at?"

"Nothing in particular." He snapped, effectively ending conversation. The seith mage rolled his eyes and patted his green friend on the back. "Honestly, Freed. You're so uptight sometimes."

Freed let out another sigh. Bixlow disappeared from sight (probably to go flirt with Mira or to do some equally hopeless task) and he sat in silence. He crossed his arms and found himself lost in his own thought. He didn't pay any attention to Ever's now-absence. He didn't even care.

But he should've cared. And maybe he should've followed, because only a few minutes later he was joined by the long gone Laxus Dreyar. It was clear the man was in one of his 'someone-needs-to-suffer' moods.

"Afternoon, Laxus. How was it?" Freed asked. He was ignored as the blonde looked around for something.

"...Hello? Laxus?"

The blonde man scratched at his present stubble. He then turned to face his friend. "Ah, Freed. You'll do,"

He gulped. Laxus' schemes weren't entirely safe - he learnt that one the hard way.

"I need you to do me a favour. A big one."

Freed waited for it, meekly nodding. The dragonslayer had that expectant glint in his eye. He tapped his long fingers on the table.

"Could you, ugh..how do I say this? Well, could you do a bit of housesitting for me?"

He nodded almost instantly. Laxus chuckled. Despite this the green-haired man could sense that there was something the blonde wasn't telling him.

"Um, well, it ain't exactly housesitting, really. Tell you what: are you free around seven? I need to bring something 'round. Something important to me, so it needs to taken care of well. Can I trust you?"

"Of course Laxus!" he beamed. The older man gave a satisfied smile and bid him good bye. He disappeared up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Freed sat in a comfortable armchair. This time, a book wasn't in hand, nor a snack or anything for that matter. An air of nervousness surrounded him instead. He glanced up at his clock. The time read 7:15 PM. Laxus was late, as usual. Freed honestly never held his expectations high in the punctuality department. His friend probably had stuff to do. Being an S-class mage gave you a lot of responsibility, it seems.<p>

He nudged his attention seeking cat away from the chair and it fled to the kitchen. His cyan eyes were practically glued to the clock face then.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

Freed sat upright in his chair, registering the sudden knock on the door. He gave a small breath before swinging the door open. As expected, it was Laxus. He greeted him warmly, but stopped midway to stare down. His eyes widened at the sight of a big, brown dog.

Or more specifically, a big, brown, slobbery mastiff.

Laxus gave a nudge on the lead and lead the way in. The mastiff was wary of Freed, sniffing at his shoes upon entry, but payed little to no attention to him. The rune mage cleared his throat and sat opposite to his guest.

"So, this is the, er, thing?"

Laxus smiled sheepishly, patting the dog on the head. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for dogs." Freed resisted the urge to smirk when his leader kissed the dog's wrinkly forehead, "Sorry if this is convenient, by the way. I haven't been able to get hold of a sitter willing to take her." With that he gave a sympathetic look to his pet, scratching its ears lovingly. Freed, on the other hand, could see exactly why no one would take her. The damned dog was 1. massive and 2. already slobbering over his floor.

"How long will you be gone for?" The rune mage asked. He eyed the dog with horrified curiosity. Taking care of this thing would no doubt be a nightmare.

The house guest, who was busying himself with a cat toy left on the table, looked up from his play. He blinked and shrugged, "About a week." he mumbled.

"And when are you leaving?"

"Early tomorrow. I'll bring over some stuff, if need be. She eats a shit ton. And, er, also shits a shit ton."

Both men stared at the dog in silence. She plopped herself on the lap of her owner, tail batting against the plush sofa. Laxus wiped some drool off his lap; with a quick movement he adjusted her blue collar.

"...Well then, I guess we should get on to the more..pressing matters then," Freed said, smiling warmly. The dragonslayer shook his head and gave a breathy laugh. Setting both hands around the torso of his dog, he relaxed against the sofa. On the other hand, the rune mage got down to business and flipped out his notebook again. Flicking to a new page, he took a few seconds to create a blank profile.

"Gender?"

"..Female." He gave him a quizzical look, but Freed ignored it.

"Age?"

"Hm, lemme think," Laxus stared into space for a brief moment before replying, "eight. She's eight, I believe."

Okay, so she was an 8 year old Mastiff. We were getting somewhere.

"Name?"

Laxus went red and cleared his throat, "...Princess. I-its Princess."

Freed halted in writing and gave a skeptical look. A smirk played across his lips. "Seriously? Princess?"

"Sh-shut up."

He wrote it down regardless, albeit snickering to himself. After a few more meaningless details, they came upon (in Freed's opinion) the most important question of all:

"Is she alright with cats?"

Laxus blinked. A few, slow seconds later he shrugged. " I dunno, she likes a lot of other animals though. Maybe plays a little too rough, but she should be fine."

Freed inwardly sighed. It was comforting knowing that his cat was going to survive the oncoming week.

After another hour or two essentials had been supplied by the older man, as well a pleasing stack of money. He waved to his green haired friend and a whiny farewell ensued. And then finally, after a promise of doggy luxuries, the blonde left.

Princess stared at Freed.

Freed stared at Princess.

The cat, properly introduced as Tiger, entered the room. After locking eyes for an eternal instant, the dog took the first few steps of the chase, towering above the little cat. Naturally, the cat retreated a few steps.

Everything transpired into chaos.

Freed watched wide eyed, gawking at his cat who had now balanced himself on top of a shelf. The dog was reaching out; the cat was backing in. They hissed and barked and growled at another. Then, somehow, Princess managed to paw at the cowering feline. Tiger...was not impressed. Infact, he went _batshit crazy_ on that little twerp.

After ten minutes of one-sided fight, Princess forfeited and lazily rolled onto her belly, thoroughly tuckered out. Tiger hid behind his own master, pointing daggers at the interloper. Again, Freed stared at the clock. The hand was on the very edge of 10. Already he was tired. Holding his cat gently, he ascended the stairs and locked him in the bedroom. The rune mage rubbed his eyes and went back to Princess. Surprisingly, she was still awake - albeit barely. He gingerly rubbed her back and coaxed her into retiring into the guest room. With some final preparation, Freed slipped into his own bed and fell asleep, with no thought for his cat.

* * *

><p>After a few hours of content and peaceful sleep, Freed woke to the sound of a deafening alarm clock, and rightly so pounded the button. A few moments of collection were given, and Freed finally sat up on the double bed. A groggy hand wiped his face of any excess sleep and day two of the ride of hell had just begun. Immediately he retreated into the bathroom, the cat eager to follow (Ew).<p>

After his daily bathroom needs, a refreshed - and damp, mind you - Freed Justine happily bounced down the stairs. Tiger followed him into the kitchen and watched with an appeased smile as the greenette grabbed at a pouch of cat food. After breakfast was served, Freed was peacefully resting on his armchair. His furry companion sat close by.

"See this, Tiger?" Freed said, newspaper in hand. He made no movement to explain.

"Meow."

That summed up most of their conversations. They sat in silence until Freed coughed and spluttered out a mouthful of coffee. He raced up the stairs and winced as the guest room door creaked open. Thankfully, Princess was asleep. Freed gently shook the massive canine, who only batted a heavy eyelid at the man. After another attempt, the dog whined and reluctantly awoke. Another hour passed and finally, Freed was ready to leave. He took the dog by lead and stepped into the outside world.

Princess was pleasant enough. Well trained, despite a little curious. That was to be expected though - every dog likes to explore. What wasn't expected, though, was to find Bixlow awake at this hour. They bumped into each other in a small park.

"Freed!" he grinned, holding out welcoming arms. The rune mage refused and waved instead. Bixlow seemed to be oblivious to the Mastiff that was pulling him along.

"I'm thinkin' that, today, we head out. Y'know, on a big one. Could even persuade Laxus into coming as well, then maybe we can take an S-class one. Or not, depending on his mood. You up for it?"

Freed rolled his eyes and sighed, "I can't Bixlow. And Laxus is out on a solo mission,"

"Awh, why not?"

"Look down."

Bixlow's eyes widened. A grin slowly appeared on his face. "You never told me you had a dog! Cool, can I walk it?" He took the lead without permission. The greenette wasn't going to stop him anyway. He chuckled at the fact though - Bixlow actually thought it was his dog. There was no way this would be his dog.

"...Gladly. Also, it isn't my dog. I'm, err, babysitting it for Laxus while he's away,"

"...Laxus has a dog?" Bixlow asked, frequently glancing over at the dog.

"You're walking it, aren't you?"

Their chatter continued through to the exit of the park. They continued to walk, this time to the guild. Dropping Bixlow off didn't seem to be a bad idea.

They swapped turns with the lead. Princess was starting to pull less now; probably tired. Or bored.

"What's this big guy's name anyway?" The seith mage inquired. He crouched to pat the dog.

"Its a girl. And her name is, well, um, Princess."

Disbelief flickered on his friend's face before he burst into laughter; Freed cracked a smile.

"What an awful name! Aha."

Their chatter was halted when the dog harshly pulled on the lead. She head for the bushes and..

...I think I'll spare you the details here.

After the deed was done, they arrived on Fairy Tail premises. Bixlow, now with the lead, entered the hall. A few people went silent at the sight of the dog.

"Hey, Bix," Gray called out, "Since when have you had a dog?"

He waved it away. Pulling out his tongue, he replied: "It's Laxus' dog. She's kinda cute, isn't she?"

Mirajane squealed and made her way to the dog. Freed rolled his eyes and slowly lead the dog upstairs, but Mirajane insisted on following.

"Awh, what's her name?" She asked, cooing and hugging the confused animal.

"He named it Princess unfortunately."

Mirajane gave a sweet smile as her brother downstairs roared with laughter.

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><p><strong>My valiant attempt at writing longer fics. Screw you, chapter option. I'm just gonna let this finish here.<strong>

**This is kind of a dumb idea, now that I think of it. I like dogs though..so yeah. lrn2name.**


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